Grain loader



W. C. BENJAMIN March 27 GRAIN LOADER March 27, 1928.

W. C. BENJAMIN GRAIN LOADER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 5, 1927 March 27, 1928. 1,663,825

w. c. B ENJAMlN GRAIN LOADER Filed Jan. 5. 192? 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar. 27, 1928.

amen;

WILLIAM c. ENJ IN, or UNITY, KATCHEWA CANADA} GRAIN LoAnER:

' Application fi led January 3, 1927; serial No. 1583708..

conditions and such that the rear conveyor and the discharge chute can be folded in ad-' ja'cent the machine body when not in use.

. With the-above more important and other. minor objects in view which Wlll become.

more apparent as thedescription proceeds,

the invention consists essentially a in the arrangement and construction of parts hereme after more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of chine, the rear end of the rear removed; v i

Fig. 2isa-side view of the rearend of the rear conveyor,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 4-. is a rear view of the machine, the ear conveyor being shown in vertical-section.

Fig. 5 is a front view of the steering mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a plan viewof the forward portion of the machine frame, the upper part of the machine being removed.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the swivel'led carrier which supports the forward end of the rear conveyor.

In the drawings like charactersof reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The main frame 1 of the machine is sub the complete maconveyor being stantially rectangular and it is supportedrearwardly by traction wheels 2 and 3 and forwardly by steering wheels 5 and 6. Gentrally of the frame I locate an engine platform 7 on which an engine 8' of any approved type is mounted, the engine driving shaft being indicated by the referencenumeral 9.

Forwardly of the frame I'locate a counter shaft 10 which is provided with two bevel pinions 11 and 12 feathered on-t-he counter shaft and connected one to the other sothat they can be simultaneously shifted. In the present instance, the pinions are provided traction wheels 21 and 3 with sleeves 13which are rotatably; mounted in the ends ofa coupling bar l l and the coup,

ling bar is pivot-ally attached-to thewlower end of a lever 15 suitably. carried by the frame, the arrangement beingsuch that by manipulating the lever I can simultaneouslyshift the pinions on the counter shaft.

A gear wheel 16 isl'ocatedibetween the; beveled, pinions and is carriedbythe forward endofa driving shaft 16 housed within the driving shaft casing 17. A differentialgear box 18 is located at the rear end of the casing-V 17 and houses. the customary differential gears which arev driven by the gear 16- and are utilized to drive the-rear shafts 19 and 19 which latter "are equipped .withch'ain wheelsQO and 20, the chain wheels being connected by chains 21 and 21, touchain' wheels 22 and 22 associated with the and mounted. onthe;

shaft 28.

The engine shaft with a chain wheel 24whichis connected by a chain 24 to a chain wheel 2 k rotat-ably mounted on the counter shaft 10. and a clutch; indicated generally by thereference numeral 25 is provided for coupling the chain wheel 24: to the counter shaft when desired, the clutch beingunder the control-of a hand lever 2 i v I I v t I i According toxthe above irrangement, Icani drive the machine forward or back by first throwing the clutch lever 26 into-a position such that the engine will drive the counter shaft and then shiftingthe pinions 11- and12 contact'with the bevel gear .16.

Whilst Ihave entered into a detailed-description of the latter parts, it will be readily understood that they could be readilymodified without departing from the spirit of the invention as any well known arrangement can be used for driving the. counter shaft from the engine and selectively driving, the traction. wheels in a forward or reverse direction as desired.v

Forwardly of the fra1ne,I- locate. a 0811: trally disposed pipe or tube 27-which is suitably mounted in bearings 27 provided. To the forward end of the tube, I, connecta cross bar 28 and underneath the cross bar I locate a further cross bar 29 suit-ablyconnected thereto by brace bars 29. The ends 9 is providedat one end;

of the bars28 and 29 carry rotatably vertically disposed shafts 30 and 30 the lower ends of which are outturned to provide spindles 3O on which the steering wheels 5 and 6 are rotatably mounted. The upper ends of the shafts 30 and 30 carry cranks 81 and 31 and the cranks are connected by a connecting rod 32 so that they move together. A further crank 33 is secured to the shaft 30 and is connected pivotally to the forward end of a steering rod 34, the rear end of which is piv- V otally attached to'a crank 35 carried by a purposes, the arrangement being such that "ill in the turning of the hand wheel, one simultaneously turns the steering wheels in the direction in which it is desired to go. Radius rods- 39 and 39 extend between the lower bar 29 and the rear end of the pipe 27.

Centrally to the sides of the main frame, I secure opposing upstanding legs 40 and 40 connected by a bowed cross arm 40 and learwardly to the frame I secure upstanding corner posts 41 and 41 connected bya cross arm 41*. Forwardly converging, horizontally disposed beams 42 and 42 are supportedby the cross arms 4O and 41* and these carry an elevated, horizontally disposedplatform 43. The legs 40 and 40 are provided with suitable bearings which support rotatably an elevated cross shaft 44.

which is provided at one end witha pulley 44 and at the other end with a chain wheel 44*. The pulley 44 is connected by a belt 45 to a pulley 45 on the engine driving shaft 9.

Centrally to the rear end of the main frame and to the rear end of theelevated platform, I secure a vertically disposed grain elevator 46 of anyapproved design. The elevator is herein shown as presenting the upper elevator shaft 47 and the lower elevator shaft 48, the shafts being utilized to drive the customary endless chains 49 which carry the cups 49" or such like grain elevating devices.

The chain wheel 44" carries a chain 50 which drives a chain wheel 50 mounted on an elevated shaft 51, one end of which is rotatably carried by the elevator casing and the other end of which is rotatably mounted in a bracket 52 carried by the post 41. The post 41 carries a further U-shaped bracket 53 which supports rotatably a vertical spindle 54, the spindle being provided with a bevel pinion 54 which is continuously in mesh with a bevel pinion 54 secured to the adjacent end of the shaft 51, the arrangethe chain.

ment being such that the spindle is driven when the shaft 51 is rotated. The shaft 51 is also supplied with a chain wheel 55 which is connected by a chain 55. to a chain wheel 55 secured to the end of the upper elevator shaft 47.

On the lower endof the post 41 I mount rotatably a carrier 56 (see Figure 7), the

of the spindle58 is connectedto the lower; end of the spindle 54 by a telescopic driying shaft 59, the ends ofwhich areconnected to the respective spindles by universal joints indicated at 59. The lower end of the spindle 58 is provided with a bevel pinion 58 which meshes with a bevel pinion 60". carried'} by a cross shaft 60, suitably mountedjin horizontally aligned bearings 60% carried by' the carrier. The carrier also supportsfa rearwardly disposed rotatably mounted crossshaft 61011 which I. mount rotatably the forward. end of a rearwardly extending grain conveyor 62 of any. approved'type.

The shaft 61 is supplied with a chain. whcel61 driven by a chain 61*operating.

over a further chain wheel 61 secured;to the shaft 60. The rear end of the conveyor carries also a crossshaft 62 and the shafts 61 and 62 are provided with endless chains and plates or wings indicated generally by the reference numeral 63, the wings being adapted to deliver grain forwardly over the bottom of the conveyor casing when the same is driven by the telescopic shaft. H p I The rear end of the conveyor 62 communicates with a vertically disposed pick tip 64 which also embodies upper and lower cross shafts 65 and 654 connected by endless chains carrying wings or plates 66. There it will be observed thatjthe wings are exposed at the lower end of the pick up so that when driven they will gather grain underlying the same and elevate it to a position whereit is discharged through the neck 67 to the conveyor. The upper shaft .65 is provided with a chain wheel 68 and it is drivenbya chain 68 from a chain wheel 69 secured tothe shaft 62, there being suitable. idler chain wheels 70 and 70 provided also to carry -The rear end ofthe conveyor carries. a-

substantially U-shaped foot piece 71 which straddles the lower endv of the pick up and is clear of the wings thereof and serves to guard the lower end of the pick up asrwill readily be understood. The forward end of the conveyor 62 is adapted to. deliver grain into the open mouth of an underlying hopper 72 carried by the frame the hopper delivers such graininto the lower end. of the vertically disposed elevator 46.

The upper end of the elevator 46' terminates in a discharging head 73 which deliversthe grain into a swivelled discharge spout 74,"the spout being suitably suspended by a chain 74 and a tie rod'75 from an arm 7 5 secured permanently to the head.

The rear end'of-the conveyor is provided with a ball bar 76 which carries a winding drum 77 with which I associate a ratchet wheel 78 and crank 79 and the bail bar carries a pall 79 engaging the ratchet wheel 78. A cable 80' is connected to the drum and passes to the upper end of the post 41 where it is fastened to a swivel 80 mounted on the upper end of said post.

When the machine is not in use, the spout 74 is swung in over the elevated platform and occupies a position such as shown in Figures 1 and 3 and the conveyor and pick up carried thereby are swung forwardly to lie at one side of the machine in a position over the rear wheel 3 and here it will be observed that the carrier 56 rotates on the post 41 at this time and the telescopic shaft 59 lengthens to permit of the movement.

When the machine is being moved from place to place, the spout and conveyor will occupy the position just mentioned which is their folded position and the machine can accordingly travel on a roadway over a bridge or through a gate without interference. When the machine is travelling from place to place, the belt 45 will be dismounted from one of its carrying pulleys and obviously the wheels 2 and 3 will be driven directly from the engine, the clutch 25 being in. The attendant can cause the machine to advance or back up by manipulating the lever 15.

When it is desired to use the machine, such as for elevating grain from a granary into a wagon, it will be maneuvered into the most advantageous position and the attendant will then place the conveyor in the granary with the lower end of the pick up riding onthe grain and will also place the spout so that it will deliver into the attending wagon. He will then throw out the clutch 25 and apply the belt 45 on the pulleys and such will cause the driving of the pick up, the conveyor and the elevator and the grain caught by the pick up will be delivered to the conveyor and the conveyor will discharge it into the hopper 72 which in turn directs it to the elevator where it is raised to the head 73 and is delivered into the spout 74: from which it discharges into the wagon.

The pick up end of the conveyor can be suspended at varying heights as desired by adjusting the winding drum as will be readily understood or the pall can be entirely released from the ratchet wheel to allow the pick up to feed itself into the grain. From the description, it will be apparent that the rear end of the conveyor can be raised or lowered and can also be swung side ways so that it is an easymatter to accommodate it best to'the conditions existing 'at the :granary. I also point out-that if it is desired to iraise the forward end of theconveyor,this can be done by raising the carrier on the post ell and resetting't collar 56 in a higher ,:position.

I have not entered into a detailed descrip tion of the internal structure of the pick up, the conveyor or the elevator as such grain delivering devices are well known to those familiar with the art and obviously any of the well known appliances could be used without departing from the spirit of the in vention.

WVhat I claim as my invention is 1. In a grain loader, in combination, a portable frame, an upright driven grain elevator carried by the frame, a rearwardly extending adjustable grain driven conveyor delivering grain to the lower end of the elevator, a driven grain pick up conveyor carried by the rear end of the latter conveyor and delivering to the same and a pivoted discharge spout suspended from and receiving grain from the upper end of the elevator.

2'. In a grain loader, in combination, a portable main frame, a vertically disposed grain elevator located rearwardly of and carried by the main frame, a rearwardly extending adjustable grain conveyor carried by the rear end of the frame, a hopper underlying the forward end of the conveyor and discharging into the lower end of the elevator,

a grain pick up located at the rear end of the,

conveyor and delivering to the same,'a grain discharge spout swivelly attached to the upper end of the elevator and receiving grain therefrom and means for simultaneously driving the elevator, the conveyor and the pick up.

3. In a grain loader, in combination, a substantially rectangular wheeled power driven frame, a vertically disposed centrally located grain elevator mounted on the rear end of the frame, a vertically and laterally swingable grain conveyor having the forward end thereof carried by one of the rear corners of the frame, means adjustably suspending the rear end of the conveyor, a vertically disposed grain pickup conveyor located at the rear end of the latter conveyor, a hopper carried by the rear end of the frame and underlying the forward end of the former conveyor and discharging into the lower end of the elevator, a discharge spout swivelly attached to the upper end of the elevator and receiving the grain discharge therefrom and means for simultaneously driving the elevator and the conveyor. i

4. In a grain loader, the combination with a substantially rectangular portable frame and a rearwardly disposed vertically extending grain elevator carried by the frame, of a rearwardly extending vertically and lateral- 1y adjustable grain conveyor mounted on one the elevator, means for driving the former of the corners of the frame, a hopper carried conveyor in all adjusted positions and a by the frame and underlying the forward driving connection between the latter con- 10 end of the conveyor and discharging into the veyor and the pick up conveyor. 7

5 lower end of the elevator, a vertically dis- Signed at Unity, Saskatchewan this 13th posed pick up conveyor carried by the rear day of September 1926. c end of the latter conveyor, means for driving WILLIAM C. BENJAMIN. 

